In a tragic incident, a herd of wild elephants trampled three people to death in the Gola block area in Ramgarh district of Jharkhand on Friday morning, triggering panic and anger among local residents.
The deceased include two brick kiln workers and an elderly villager. The first incident occurred in Banda village around 4 am, when two labourers, Dheeraj Bhuiyan and Jugal Bhuiyan, had stepped out for defecation.
They were reportedly surrounded by the herd and crushed to death. Dheeraj was a resident of Taatatand in Patratu, while Jugal hailed from Kuju in Ramgarh.
In a separate incident in Murpa village, 80-year-old Ramdev Sao was attacked while he had gone out early in the morning to collect mahua flowers. He was also trampled to death by the elephants.
According to local sources, the herd of around 12 elephants had strayed from the forests of Bokaro into residential areas of Ramgarh district. Following the incidents, officials from the forest department and police rushed to the spot and sent the bodies for post-mortem.
The incidents have sparked widespread fear and resentment among villagers, who have accused the forest department of negligence. They alleged that authorities had prior information about the movement of elephants but failed to take preventive measures to drive them away from inhabited areas.
Forest department officials, however, stated that compensation of Rs 4 lakh each will be provided to the families of the deceased as per government norms. The process for immediate relief has been initiated.
Human-elephant conflict continues to escalate in Jharkhand. Just last week, three people were killed in a similar attack in Markacho in Koderma district.
According to available data, more than 28 people have lost their lives in elephant attacks across the state in the past 50 days alone.'
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